Hunt hat-trick hands England Women Under 20s Wales win

The young England international claimed three of five tries which also saw skipper and club teammate Nicola Hoole on the score sheet alongside another Bath player Isabelle Noel-Smith.

It only took Hunt 11 minutes to make England’s mark on Welsh soil after a turn-over at the scrum saw England attack on the blind-side. This was then followed by two phases of play which saw the ball spun out-wide. With centre Rose Fong then making a line break Hunt went over to score from five metres out. Lichfield fullback Emily Scarratt converted.

Nine minutes later and Hunt had extended England’s lead to 14-0 with a converted try. This time, the ball was passed out to Scarratt who broke the line to set-up a one-to-one with her Welsh opposite number before off-loading to a flying Hunt. Scarratt converted.

Isabelle Noel-Smith then rounded off the first-half proceedings with a 31st minute effort after England attacked from the blind-side of the scrum. The ball was then recycled out to the right wing for Noel-Smith to pounce on and score from five metres out. Scarratt missed the conversion, but England still led 19-0 at the break.

Skipper Nicola Hoole led by example immediately after the restart with the flanker touching down for try number four on 45 minutes. The Bath forward waited patiently for a counter attack from Scarratt and Hunt who set-up Hoole on the right wing.

Hunt then claimed her hat-trick of tries on 65 minutes with a great individual try which saw her score under the posts. With Scarratt converting England took the 31-0 victory.

England Women Under 20s will next be in action against Wales Under 20s at Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire on March 27th ahead of a two week tour to Canada in July.

England Under 20s Head Coach Giselle Mather said: “I am very happy with the overall result, in particular the first-half performance and the 11 players who made their international debuts today at Under 20s level. Natasha Hunt had a great game, scoring three tries on her international debut too.

“The defensive performance in the second-half was also good with every player standing up and putting their tackles in. We used the wind well today and stuck to the game plan. Overall though there is a lot to work on as we look forward to our next fixture against Wales.”